‘Boks among the fittest of them all’

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says his charges are not too far behind the all-conquering New Zealand in terms of physical conditioning.

Though he admitted that his assertion is likely to be challenged by some because of his team’s inconsistencies, Erasmus maintained that the current crop of Springbok players are the fittest bunch he has worked with.

“I know people will say ‘how can you say that’, but I know that this is the fittest bunch of players I have worked with,” he said.

“In terms of fitness and conditioning, I really think we are up there with the best in the world.”

On Thursday, Erasmus announced six changes to the starting lineup for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Australia at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Elton Jantjies will notably replace the struggling Handre Pollard at flyhalf.

Erasmus was quick to point out that the Boks are still lagging behind the All Blacks, who they meet in Wellington next weekend, in terms of experience and reputation.

“In stature, aura, experience and those sorts of things, we are still behind them but in the conditioning department we don’t stand too far back.

‘‘I know in our last match against Argentina, effort was not good enough but fitness is not the thing that is our problem,” he said.

“We just have terrible starts in matches, which forces us to fight back, and there are also mistakes here and there.

‘‘If we can fix those things, maybe I can shave and cut my hair but I don’t think you can put it down to lack of effort.

‘‘As long as it is not an issue of effort, then we can accept it.

“But it is something we talk about daily. We have changed things in our pre-match preparations and warm ups.

‘‘It is frustrating and I understand how it must be for the fans out there, but we are working very hard at every training session to fix it.”

In the changes he has made for Saturday’s clash, Steven Kitshoff will start in the place of Tendai Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi for Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit for Francois Louw, Jantjies for Pollard, Damian de Allende for Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel for Lukhanyo Am.

Captain Siya Kolisi is the only positional change as he returns to open side flanker after he played on the opposite side of the scrum in the two matches against Argentina, in Durban and Mendoza.